Artist Statement

Some of Jeanne Wilkinson’s digital collages and animations document the travels and vision quests of the Painted People, a kind of Paleo-Postmodern migratory clan. Called “iridescent” by art critic Dan Bischoff, these former Barbies, Kens and GI Joes trek across the face of an earth that becomes more alive, more revelatory of its underlying forces as they pass. Cities become strange night places where streets are fluid streams, skies morph into oceans and buildings dissolve into fantastic life-forms.

The Painted People’s first adventure–Western Walkabout–was a collaboration between Wilkinson and her son, Andrew Yonda (photographer/musician). These real-time photos were taken on a trip mirroring one she took 1969, but instead of traveling in a psychedelic VW microbus, the Painted People rode the Horse With No Name (HWNN) and Mr. Blue the Toad on their journey from the mountains to the sea. In the Sky People, Night in the City, and Alight series, the imagery is layered with her photos of nature, the city, the dolls, and her artwork. Now with three babies and many more creatures, the clan traverses a world of strange premonitions, environmental change (apocalypse?) and natural magic.

Other series involve using paintings or details of paintings and, with After Effects, making them move and morph within their own “movies”—as if the painting were having a dream of itself.

She has made several series that involve using two projectors on opposite walls, and two parallel translucent scrims (chiffon fabric) that form a “tunnel” in the center of the room where people can immerse themselves in the imagery. The image streams loop in different time frames, creating a mysterious, ever-changing flow of imagery.  She photographs these interactions and makes another movie, adding yet another layer to the experience. In New York her work has been screened at BAM, at Creon Gallery, at Spring in DUMBO, at Gallery 128 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and numerous other venues. In the summer of 2013, Trestle Gallery in Brooklyn featured her light installation, “The Sun and the Horn” celebrating the 2013 Summer Solstice with a kind of “cave painting” for the new millenium.